Watch This: Trailer for Carol

Carol is a love story set in the 1950s. It stars Cate Blanchett and Rooney Mara as the two lovers. Back in the 50s, we would have called that “forbidden love.”

Rooney Mara and Cate Blanchett in Carol

Rooney Mara plays Therese, a department store clerk. Cate Blanchett is Carol, a wealthy woman in a loveless marriage. Kyle Chandler plays her unlucky husband. Poor guy, imagine snagging Cate Blanchett and then realizing she bats for the other team.

When Variety reviewed the film after Cannes, they described it as, “an exquisitely drawn, deeply felt love story that teases out every shadow and nuance of its characters’ inner lives with supreme intelligence, breathtaking poise and filmmaking craft of the most sophisticated yet accessible order.”

The Telegraph reviewed the film after Cannes as well, and said, “More than hugely accomplished cinema, it’s an exquisite work of American art, rippling with a very specific mid-century melancholy, understanding love as the riskiest but most necessary gamble in anyone’s experience.”

Such glowing reviews! I’m convinced.

The film is based Patricia Highsmith’s novel “The Price of Salt” with a screenplay by Phyllis Nagy. The director is Todd Haynes. Based on the previews, it appears that Todd Haynes decided to emphasize the 1950s setting with artistic atmospheric touches. The preview also gives new meaning to the song “My Foolish Heart.”

The preview is mostly longing glances and unexpressed desire, but the film is rated R for sexuality.

Carol will be in US theaters on November 27. For those in the UK, it will premier there on October 14 at BFI London Film Festival.